Understanding Your Young Teen - Chapter Two
IT’S ALL ABOUT CHANGE
This chapter, is really all about you. But it’s not; and it is. There is a mass idea out there that as parents, we don’t need to try and understand our young teens, because we already do. After all, we were there once and things haven’t changed all that much. The thing is, things have changed dramatically. The fabric of our culture today - within the young teen context and within general society - is so far removed from the normalcy of our day (if you want to call it that). The challenges young teens face today pose a greater risk factor, influences are more demanding and apparent, yet parents for the most part think they have this handled. While I certainly pray that they do, this is hardly ever the case. The most effective parents are the parents who actively engage on the level of their young teens; not the aloof parents who think by ignoring and praying, the teen years will go away.
“The most important thing you can do to increase your effectiveness, as a christian parent of a middle schooler, is to deepen your own connection to God.” [p. 29]
1. What steps are you taking, alone and/or with your spouse to improve your connection with God?
2. How are your young teens seeing you improve that connection?
“If you asked me (Go ahead and ask. Say it out loud: “Marko, if you were to describe the young teen experience in one word, what word would you choose?”) I’d respond calmly: “Change.” Change. That’s it, in a word. The life of a middle schooler is all about change.” [p. 31]
1. What changes are you noticing in the young teens entrusted to your care?
2. How are you walking their road with them, not against them?
